At Home Insemination with Mosie Baby
After falling pregnant at home with a known donor and the help of Mosie Baby, Sora and Riss had a maternity photoshoot at home, despite not knowing that they were in early labor and would be holding their baby in just a few hours time.
Falling Pregnant with a Known Donor and Mosie Baby.
Our pregnancy journey was one of surprising ease and delight, right up until the moment our sweet babe Sylvan decided to join us, three weeks early! After years of talking about having a baby, and finally feeling ready to settle down into our next phase of life, Marissa and I asked a dear friend to be our donor and luckily got pregnant after only two months of trying (shout out to Mosie Baby!).
Every week of my pregnancy was a beautiful and wonderful experience and we anxiously counted down the weeks until we could meet our little one. Having grown up with a midwife mother and working as a postpartum doula and lactation consultant, where everything in my life is baby focused, I was finally living out my dream of experiencing pregnancy and soon to be parenthood myself.
Marissa prepared for the baby by renovating almost every room in our house and doing all the large scale nesting projects, while I focused on the small projects like folding tiny baby clothes and getting everything set up, including booking a maternity photo shoot with the wonderful Mattie Krall.
The Experience of Having a At-Home Maternity Photoshoot
At our 36-week home visit, we found out from our midwives that the baby was transverse (sideways), which would mean we might not be able to have the home birth we had long dreamed of and planned for. The night before we had an ECV planned to try to flip the baby, we met Mattie for our maternity photo shoot on a warm June evening. We immediately clicked with her and warmed up to her smile behind the lens as she captured us in our home, around our blooming garden, and among the glow of the golden sun at a nature preserve near our house.
Later that night, she sent us a sneak peek preview, and we practically melted at the beauty and magic that she had captured. We are so grateful for preserving that moment of us as a couple before we became a family of three. I was thankful for the timing, as my water broke at 2 am the next morning and our beautiful baby Sylvan Iris was in our arms by 6:04am, three weeks early!
A Home Birth turned Emergency C-Section
While our home birth turned into a surprise c-section, we had a healthy baby and felt so relieved to have her here with us after so long of wanting and waiting for her. As we snuggled her between us in the hospital bed that first night, recounting the whirlwind of the last 24 hours, we realized I had been in early labor during our photo shoot and didn’t even notice it!
The First 6 Months with a New Baby
Being Sylvan’s moms has been the single most beautiful and heart fluttering experience we have ever had. Just as she was in utero, she was an extremely calm and easygoing newborn, loving all of the cuddles and snuggles and cooing that her adoring family showered her with day in and day out. Now at seven months, Sylvan is starting to show more of her spunky side with opinions she has about toys and food, being sat down when she wants to be held, and wanting to squeeze and hold every baby she meets. She is a smiling, happy, and endlessly fun little bundle of joy!
We were so lucky to be well supported by family and friends and felt extremely resourced in our first few weeks with Sylvan, with people coming by daily to visit, bring food, help in the garden, and share with us with collective joy and delight.
As someone who has studied and worked with babies for my whole career, I am constantly surprised and humbled by Sylvan as she teaches me new things every day and challenges what I know and assume about parenting by showing me how she, like every baby, is unique in their own ways.
Breastfeeding has been our biggest hardship (which feels like an extra kick in the shins as it’s my area of expertise as an IBCLC!), but I have learned so much about how to pause, ask for help, reevaluate expectations, and find new ways to adapt to what’s best for us. As a stay-at-home mom, Marissa has gracefully joined the ranks of parents who have to relearn and get creative with what it means to multi-task and somehow manage to stay sane while keeping the house together, keeping Sylvan fed and happy and entertained, as well as trying to start her own business as a home bread baker!
We are both so grateful to Mattie for capturing our family of three in the warm fall evening sun, snuggled together among the trees like Sylvan’s name, meaning “of the woods”.
Photography by Mattie Krall Photography
